


Tap

by doctorcaseyholmes



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Based on a Tumblr Post, First Kiss, Fluff, I giggled like a little school girl the entire time I was writing this, M/M, Morse Code, seriously
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-05
Updated: 2014-05-05
Packaged: 2018-01-22 00:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 896
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1569500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorcaseyholmes/pseuds/doctorcaseyholmes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sherlock finds an unobtrusive way to let out his feelings for John.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tap

**Author's Note:**

> Normal Disclaimer: Not mine. Characters belong to ACD and BBC. I'm just playing with them.  
> Beta'd by the amazing teatearsandbbc. Any mistakes are completely mine.  
> This is based off this tumblr post: http://doctorcaseyholmes.tumblr.com/post/84289461884/wearitcounts-wankerbatch-sherlock-tapping-i  
> I saw that and a plot bunny grabbed me.

Sherlock was convinced he was going to burst. He had calculated the likelihood of spontaneous combustion at roughly 93% if something wasn't done soon. He _needed_ to tell John, but there was no way he could. John would never accept it. He was not like that. As John constantly said, he was Not Gay. And besides, even if he were, why would he ever feel that way about Sherlock? Sherlock who was an annoying git who always played his violin at the most inopportune times and did questionable experiments and never did the shopping and demanded things constantly from him. How could John ever possibly accept that Sherlock loved him?

So the words could never leave his lips. Not to John. Not if he didn't want to ruin the only friendship he had somehow managed to acquire and miraculously keep. He had to find some other outlet to let his feelings, his _true_ feelings, for John be known.

That was the reason that he took up tapping all the time. He was sure that John noticed the sudden habit, but he surely didn't know what it meant. John would just look up at the sound, quirk an eyebrow, and go back to his task.

But the tapping was utter relief. Absolute bliss. Because the tapping wasn't just tapping. It was Morse code. The constant sound of _I love you_ in quick little movements and tiny pops of sound. Sherlock finally had a way of releasing the well of his feelings for John whenever he did something that reminded Sherlock of just how much he loved him.

Hence the tapping on his coat at crime scenes when John said something particularly illuminating or gave him unwarranted complements. The tapping on the tables at restaurants when John made him laugh, or, more often, laughed himself. The tapping on tea mugs when John handed him one fresh from the pot. The tapping on his microscope when John briefly rested a hand on Sherlock’s shoulder as he passed by.

Soon not a day went by without Sherlock’s surreptitious tapping. It was Sherlock’s way of letting the world know his feelings for John while John was none-the-wiser. Sherlock could never ruin his friendship with John. John need never know that Sherlock loved him so deeply. Because, in a way, his friendship was enough for Sherlock. It really was. Just having John near him daily was a reminder that there was someone who cared enough for him to forgive his flaws. Sherlock would just have to let that be enough. He couldn’t have more. Couldn’t allow himself to even think that he could. Because that would ruin everything.

However, not two months of his tapping passed before he realized one huge gaping hole in his logic.

 

One day, just like any other, Sherlock’s fingers were doing their now-familiar dance on the microscope in response to John setting down a tea mug unassumingly by his elbow before he sat across from Sherlock with his breakfast in front of him. That’s when something strange happened. Instead of digging into his eggs like Sherlock was expecting, Sherlock heard a light sound. That of metal hitting the tabletop repeatedly. There was something familiar about it that niggled at Sherlock’s brain.

Suddenly, his mind screeched to a halt as he realized his mistake.

That sound was Morse code.

John knew Morse code.

Before his mind could decipher what John was tapping at him, it flew to a memory. John. At the pool. And Semtex. And another moment that had his brain frozen in fear. John was just as afraid – his eyes were blinking rapidly. Only now - Sherlock saw it for what is was. The silent call of an S.O.S. In all the confusion and emotional turmoil, Sherlock had disregarded it. How _stupid_!

How could he forget such a crucial detail? John had been in the army for Christ’s sake. Of course he knew Morse code. Which meant that this entire time, this _entire time_ , John knew what Sherlock was silently saying. So many times a day. And how _embarrassingly horrifying_ that thought was.

Sherlock felt his eyes go wide as he lifted them from his microscope to his flatmate’s face. His flatmate who was silently smirking down at his plate, refusing to look at him. Sherlock forced his mind to the present, to hear what John was tapping. And surely his eyes couldn't get any wider…

Because that sound, that sound that betrayed Sherlock’s innermost fears, was saying, _I love you too, you git_.

Sherlock gasped an “oh” around his frozen lips. And John finally looked up to meet his eyes. His smile only grew as he saw that Sherlock finally understood.

“Well, it’s true,” John said calmly. And how on earth could he be so calm at this moment! Sherlock was still frozen in shock, so John took it upon himself to stand and travel around the table to stand beside Sherlock. He reached out a hand and placed it under Sherlock’s chin, closing it as he brought it around to face him. “I _do_ love you. Always have. Nice to know the sentiment’s returned."  And here John gave a wry smile.  "Though you could have just told me you berk.”

John leaned down to capture Sherlock’s lips in a kiss and Sherlock melted and let everything go for the first time in months.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first finished and published fanfiction, so any input y'all have would be very welcome. Thanks for reading!


End file.
